Phorm, a system designed to direct relevant online adverts to surfers depending on the sites they visit and keywords they use, has been a source of concern for customers of the ISPs said to be trialling the technology in the UK.

In July, campaigners protested outside BT's annual shareholder meeting and complained to police officers that BT carried out the trials without the consent of customers.

The Register reports that the City of London Police questioned BT Retail executives earlier this month, but has opted against formally investigating the ISP on the grounds that it would be "a waste of public money".

The Reg has published an email sent by detective sergeant Barry Murray to anti-Phorm campaigner Alex Hanff which suggests BT's use of Phorm is designed to improve its service to customers.

"The matter will not be investigated by the City of London Police as it has been decided that no Criminal Offence has been committed," said the email. "One of the main reasons for this decision is the lack of Criminal Intent on behalf of BT and Phorm Inc in relation to the tests. It is also believed that there would have been a level of implied consent from BT's customers in relation to the tests, as the aim was to enhance their products."

Hanff told The Register he was very disappointed with the decision and would be making a formal complaint.

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Jamie Dowling said: Your headline is misleading The Metropolitan Police have not explicitly given their approval to Phorm they have just said that they do not believe BT and Phorms illegal actions visit tobymeresnet watch the footage there and see for yourself warrant investigation on financial groundsOdd that it was the Police who decided and not the CPS Please use accurate headlines in future Police drop BT amp Phorm probe is more accurate Nowhere have BT and Phorm ever published the legal advice they claim to have received

sailor said: As a BT customer I object strongly to been bombed with unasked for ads never been given the chance to opt out of a money making scheme for BT as we already pay through the nose for this service And when tthey say no personal details are kept how can they Know which account to target

BT Customer said: What a shame the City of London police consider it a waste of public money to investigate and prosecute a public company who illegally and covertly and deliberately intercepted the internet communications of thousands of the residential AND business customers causing them inconvenience and expense as well as the confusion experienced on websites around the world which were infested with injected javascript while the originators of the problem the ISP BT were lying to their customers about the problem and saying it must be malware It was but the source was BT itself and they denied it And now the police say there was no criminal intent I must remember that excuse next time I am around Westminster and get told off for reading the wrong things near the Houses of Parliament